


Payment

by Higuchimon



Series: Bargains Fairly Kept [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fae, Chapter Set Boot Camp, Diversity Writing Challenge, M/M, Magical Enslavement, Novella Masterclass Challenge, Spanking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-22
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2018-11-03 21:54:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 18,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10976091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Higuchimon/pseuds/Higuchimon
Summary: With Ruri sick and on the edge of death, Shun ventures into the fae-haunted woodlands to make a bargain for her life.  Making the bargain itself is easy enough.  Keeping it?  That's a little harder.





	1. Chapter 1

**Story Title:** Payment  
 **Characters:** Shun, Yuuri|| **Pairing:** probably future intimacy between Shun  & Yuuri and sexplants but not actual romance   
**Chapter Word Count:** 1,378|| **Story Word Count:** 1,378|| **Chapter Count:** 1/25  
 **Genre:** Drama|| **Rated:** R  
 **Challenge:** Diversity Writing Challenge, J6, 15-25 chapters; Chapter Set Boot Camp, #32, 25 chapters; Novella Masterclass, AU Space  
 **Notes:** This is a fantasy creature AU.  
 **Summary:** With Ruri sick and on the edge of death, Shun ventures into the fae-haunted woodlands to make a bargain for her life. Making the bargain itself is easy enough. Keeping it? That's a little harder.

* * *

Shun pressed his lips together, staring at the clear and open path winding through the otherwise dark and foreboding forest. 

_It’s an invitation._

He’d seen this sort of thing before. The fae liked to do it, make an easy and inviting path so that you walked into one of their traps and the odds of coming back would be an unholy cross between as easy as breathing and never happening at all. 

All of his life he’d been told never to trust the fae, never to do anything that would get their attention, and if for some reason he _needed_ to go into the forest, then to carry all the charms against the fae that he could find and never, ever stop to speak to anyone in there, no matter how human they looked. 

They would never _be_ human. 

All of his life he’d followed his parents’ wisdom and so he’d crossed into adulthood without having so much as seen what he suspected might be a fae’s sleeve. 

Only now he intended to do so. To go against everything that he’d been taught and even _speak_ to a fae. 

He stepped onto the path, every muscle tight and every nerve on end. The first step did nothing. It was as if the path were like any other path. 

He kept on going, refusing to look behind. He needed to do this. 

The tree branches closed over his head the farther along he walked, until he could barely see anything ahead of him. His feet made no sound on the path, which grew mossier and mossier as he walked. Flowers by the side of the path sent up enticing fragrances, and he tried hard not to breathe them in. 

He almost didn’t notice when the trees thinned a little and he stumbled into a perfect circular clearing, one as empty as the town square at midnight. It might well have been midnight; while the gap between the trees was wide enough for a dozen or more people to gather, the branches overhead still interlocked to block the sky from him. 

A fae ring. That was the only thing it could be. He’d been warned against those. They could be marked by anything, but if one found oneself in a ring framed by anything natural, then the fae were involved. 

“Hello?” Shun called out, fingers clenching into his hands. He didn’t have time to wait. Every moment counted. “Is someone here?” 

He wanted an answer. Part of him expected an answer. And yet when he heard a mocking, lilting laugh, he had to fight himself not to jump in shock. 

“I need to talk to one of the fae! Someone who knows something about magic! Or healing!” 

“Is that so?” The voice echoed from all around, not coming from any given source. “We are not here for your pleasure, mortal. If anything, you stand here for _ours_.” 

Shun snarled, shaking his head automatically. “I want to make a bargain!” 

Again that voice and again that laugh, edged with cruelty and caprice. “But what if we don’t want to make one with you? What do you have, silly mortal, that we do not have, and could not take from you if we wanted?” 

Shun took one more step, attention shifting all around as he tried to pin down where the voice came from. 

“What _would_ you want?” One hand slipped into his pocket, fingering the tiny item in there. It wasn’t much, but he’d crafted it himself. 

Fae had little creativity when it came to art, or so he’d been told. What they had they typically mirrored from mortals and improved in some fashion, such as finer materials or durability. Creating something on their own was possible, but happened very rarely. 

So to give them something that _you_ created was one of the greatest bargaining chips that one could bring if one wished to bargain at all. 

“Again, what do you have to give?” Fingers rested without warning on the back of his neck and Shun whirled around, expecting to see someone and meeting nothing at all. 

Fae liked to play games. Especially with mortals. 

He pulled the little carving out of his pocket and held it outward on his palm. “This.” 

Silence fell for a few heartbeats. He’d cut and whittled the wood himself, searching for it from a forest far less haunted than this one, working on it until it resembled his sister as much as he could make it. 

“What a pretty little toy,” the voice murmured, and in front of him there now stood a young man, eyes bent down toward the carving. What Shun could see of him showed a tangle of violet hair and rich clothing, the least of which would’ve paid for every financial obligation Shun and Ruri had in their entire lives, and probably half the town’s as well. 

Then he looked up at Shun and Shun’s heart stopped in his throat. He’d never seen eyes like that before, sharp and cold and raging with life and madness. He almost took a step back before reminding himself that showing weakness before the fae would likely end up with him dancing to their tune forevermore. 

Not that he might not anyway, but he at least wanted it on his own terms, not because he was terrified of them. 

“What is it that you want for this?” The tone was a little different this time, not quite as mocking, but with definite desire, especially as the other looked him obviously up and down. 

“I need to make a bargain. My sister’s very sick.” Shun hated to say the words, to take the step he’d avoided for so long. But he’d come to the end of his rope. “The physician in town can’t help her. All he can do is keep her alive for a few more days. But he said that fae magic might be ale to help.” 

_Could be the only thing that would help. Had to be, because the sickness was fae-induced._ At least that was what the physician said. Shun didn’t know enough about medicine to say if he told the truth or not. But he’d try anything. 

The fae stared into Shun’s eyes before he began to smile. Of all the smiles Shun had ever seen in his life, this one made him wonder about knives in the back or poison laced into his food. 

No. Not those. This fae would not be so _common_. But what he didn’t like would end up dead, or worse. Whatever fates were worse than death, this fae knew them all. That smile alone told Shun that. 

“Kurosaki Shun,” he murmured, and the way that he said the name made Shun shiver from the core of his soul. 

One wasn't ever supposed to give the fae one’s true name and he knew that he hadn’t. Yet there it was on the fae’s lips, as bold as brass. 

“This, then, is the bargain that I offer to you, mortal: I will see to it that your sister recovers. In exchange, you are _mine_ until I change my mind. You will obey every command that I give you, no matter what it is. I will allow you to spend one week of mortal time with your sister before you come to dwell in my home. You may explain to her why you are leaving, or not, as you desire.” He picked the tiny carving from Shun’s hand. “And you will give me this.” 

Shun hadn’t come into the forest expecting to come back out with the carving. But all the rest of it… 

“Why are you asking for a slave?” He wasn't going to dance around the concept. That was what the fae wanted of him. 

The fae’s smile didn’t get any better. “Because that’s what I _want_ and really, _Kurosaki Shun_ , what else can you offer me but yourself?” He wrapped his free hand around Shun’s collar and pulled him closer. “Do we have a bargain or not?” 

At this range, all the madness in those glowing violet eyes raged even wilder. Shun could not imagine what spending the rest of his life at his command would be like, but if it would save Ruri… 

“Yes.” 

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** So, this is my new Endurance Challenge piece, which means I will be updating it once a week, usually on Monday or Tuesday. It's basically just Yuuri, Shun, submission, and maybe some sexplants, because that's what I wanted to write, and I wanted to write it because I don't have to _think_ about it, and you wouldn't believe how non-stressful not thinking about something is. 

Shun is in for a very bad time. Yuuri isn't.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Word Count:** 1,448|| **Story Word Count:** 2,826|| **Chapter Count:** 2/25

* * *

“Return to your sister,” the fae instructed. This close, Shun could see every glint in his ethereal violet eyes. This wasn’t someone to anger. If Ruri’s life hadn’t hung in the balance, then he wouldn’t have done this at all. But her life was worth far, far more than his. “If you don’t return here in one week’s time, I will come for you myself.” 

A dark smile slashed across his features. “You won’t like what else will happen to you if I have to fetch you. I’m going to have fun with you, and you’re going to enjoy it, but you might not at first, not if you make me angry.” 

Shun held his head up as high as he could. “I’ll be here.” He would have to ask someone to watch Ruri for a while, to make certain that she would be able to make do on her own. He trusted her, but this was his sister all the same. 

The fae nodded, then vanished in between one breath and the next. Shun steadied himself as best that he could, then turned and headed down the path he’d come in by. 

Everything seemed much the same as it had before, except for the loss of the carving in his pocket, and the way that everything seemed to watch him as he walked along. He couldn’t see any birds, though he heard their twittering, and while he couldn’t understand them, to him it sounded as if they were amazed he’d survived his encounter with the fae. 

In all truth, he was surprised at that himself. He’d more or less expected this to pan out into nothingness. He hadn’t expected to trade himself for her life He’d just been ready to do so if he’d had to. 

He wasn’t sure of how long it had taken him to find the clearing, but he knew that it took a lot longer to go in than it did to go out. The path spread out to the cleared lands beyond and he could catch a glimpse of the roofs of the village beyond that. 

_Fae magic?_ He expected he’d see a lot of that in the future. He hurried his steps toward the village itself, hoping that the fae would keep his word where Ruri was concerned. Fae could twist their bargains to suit themselves, and if that one wanted Shun that badly, he could do something that would result in Ruri dying and he’d still be able to claim Shun… 

He’d promised to save her life now. He hadn’t promised that she wouldn’t be hit by a runaway carriage or attacked by bandits once Shun wasn’t there to watch over her anymore. 

That was the danger of bargaining with the fae. One didn’t always get what one thought one contracted for. 

Shun pressed his lips together as he strode through the village to the little place he’d called home for most of his life. He’d have to find someone who could keep an eye on her, someone he could trust. Someone who would keep her safe when he couldn’t anymore. Ruri would insist that she could do this herself, but now that they were involved with fae, or fae were involved with them, that wasn’t something _he_ trusted. 

_Crow?_ Crow would probably be someone he could trust. He ran the local orphanage, a place he’d grown up at himself, and while Ruri was an orphan, she was also old enough to live on her own. He’d have to arrange _something_ during his last week so they would know they could go to one another for help. 

Shun didn’t let himself think too much about this being the last week he’d see this place or his sister or any of the few friends that he had. Stories spoke of how time flowed oddly in the fae realm. He could spend days there and come back to find that a century or more had passed here. He didn’t know if it were true. He’d only touched on the edges of the fae with this trip. How much time had passed here? 

As near as he could tell when he stepped into the cottage, no more than the small handful of hours that it had taken him to go there, make his deal, and return. Ruri still lay in bed, eyes closed, too pale and too still for his comfort. 

Sayaka sat next to her, bathing her forehead with a cold damp cloth, and looking as worried and upset as if this were her fault and not whatever disease gripped at his sister’s heart. 

Sayaka looked up when he entered, a flicker of hope across her eyes. She knew what he’d gone to do. Only she and Allan did. “Did it… could you...” 

“She’ll be all right,” Shun promised, moving closer. “But …” How could he say this? How could he tell someone else before he told Ruri? His lips sealed themselves. “She’ll be all right. That’s what matters.” 

Sayaka nodded a little. Shun moved closer to look at Ruri, hoping for some sign of her recovery, and finding nothing. 

_He promised._ But he hadn’t said when. It could only happen after Shun came to live with him. Shouldn’t the full price be paid first? Cold ice surged all through Shun at the idea of spending a full week with Ruri slipping away before his eyes, of never seeing her healthy again before he had to leave… 

A noise came from the door: the sound of someone clearing their throat. Shun looked up, part of him expecting to see the violet-hued fae he’d bargained with. 

Instead, a sight he was familiar with and yet didn’t want to see in the slightest lounged in the doorway. Dennis Macfield smiled a toothy smile, tossing a silver apple up and down in one hand. 

“So, I hear _someone_ has been running off to the woods to make deals,” he said, grinning at Shun in that way that made Shun want to punch him, several times. 

Shun’s spine tingled. He knew neither Sayaka nor Allen would’ve said a word to Dennis about what he’d gone to do, and he hadn’t told anyone else. Since _he_ hadn’t mentioned it to Macfield, then… 

Dennis strolled on in, ignoring such niceties as invitations. “This is for her. Yuuri-sama sends it with his good regards. Cut it up, feed it to her, and she’ll start recovering inside of a day.” 

Shun caught the apple as Dennis tossed it over to him, coming around to stare the annoying redhead in the face. “What do you know about this?” 

“Everything that he told me,” Dennis replied with a casual grin. “You don’t have to worry, Kurosaki. _I’ll_ watch over her once you leave. She couldn’t be in better hands.” 

“I highly doubt that.” Shun stared down at the silver apple. As much as he loathed Dennis, usually because Dennis existed in the first place, he had to admit that if he hadn’t come from the fae – from Yuuri? - then he wouldn’t know anything about the bargain, and he clearly did. 

Dennis pressed a hand to his heart. “Are you saying that you don’t trust me?” He threw his other hand behind his head. “I am struck to the quick!” 

“I couldn’t be that lucky,” Shun muttered, looking around for a knife to cut the apple with. He could’ve thought of several other uses for the knife but Ruri came first, as always. 

Besides, she’d always insisted that if anyone got to peel off Dennis’s body parts, she at least wanted to be there to observe, if not actually take off some of them herself. He hadn’t ever _done_ anything to her – because he was still drawing breath – but neither Kurosaki favored him. 

From the first moment the first bit of apple touched Ruri’s lips, her eyes opened a little, enough so she could look up at him, dim hints of curiosity there. 

“This is going to help you,” Shun murmured, his heart pounding in a mix of fear and hope. “Eat it, please.” 

Ruri cast her eyes down enough so she could see the apple slice, then parted her lips, accepting it. She didn’t eat the whole thing just yet, but Shun didn’t expect her to. She didn’t have enough strength to do much more than this. 

“She’ll be fine,” Dennis promised, and only the bargain he’d made let Shun believe that. “Better watch the time. Yuuri-sama doesn’t appreciate his possessions being late. Seven days, Kurosaki.” He laughed, a silvery trill of mockery. “See you at the palace!” 

And without even bothering to step out of the door, he was gone. 

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** The fun stuff with Yuuri will come shortly. Gotta take care of Ruri first.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Word Count:** 1,324|| **Story Word Count:** 4,150|| **Chapter Count:** 3/25

* * *

Yuuri peered down into the cup of one of his favorite flowers, filled now with pure water, and not reflecting his own face. That was because it reflected his newest acquisition, sitting beside his sister’s bed, eyes open only by sheer force of will. 

Yuuri liked that. He looked forward to turning that force of will towards his own uses. 

“Job done,” Dennis said, lounging down by Yuuri’s feet. Yuuri favored him with a caress through his hair, not looking up from his scrying flower. He knew it was; he’d seen Dennis there and now Shun had the healing fruit. But it would harm nothing to praise his favorite servant. 

Dennis leaned into the touch before he moved so he could look into the flower’s cup as well. “I shouldn’t be jealous, should I?” 

“Of what?” Yuuri wondered what this human would be like when he bedded him. He would struggle, of course, even with having sworn himself to Yuuri. Yuuri wanted a fight, because he knew he could win it. 

“You’ve got a new toy.” 

Yuuri barely looked at him. “Don’t think I’ll forget about you. You still need to stay there and keep an eye out for me.” He had many plans for some of those people, and he knew others who had plans for still more of them. Dennis could be of use to all of them. 

Dennis just grumped for the moment. “I know. But you haven’t picked a new toy in over three hundred years.” 

“I haven’t needed one, either,” Yuuri pointed out. He’d spent most of those three centuries looking for just the right situation to lure a mortal into his grasp. Mortals were so useful for so many different things, but most of them tended to be too fragile for his needs. 

Not this Kurosaki. Yuuri could see the strength in him and so looked forward to testing it and taming it. 

A thought occurred to him. “Did you warn Selena?” Whether he liked it or not – and he’d never been fond of Queen Ray’s oldest – she would be involved in this to some degree. 

“Oops.” Dennis blinked innocently. It might’ve worked better if he’d actually _been_ innocent, but Yuuri made certain he’d lost all of that well over a thousand years earlier. An innocent Dennis wouldn’t have been useful to him at all. A thoroughly corrupt one, who knew to obey his orders _eventually_ , was far more to his taste. 

In multiple ways. 

Yuuri looked away long enough to deliver a very cold look. One of his better ones, really. 

“Then go do it.” He didn’t want Selena showing up on his doorstep being annoyed that he’d interfered in her plans. Besides, if her plans worked out, then it would help with _his_ plans and he knew she’d been struggling to find a way to get rid of Kurosaki Shun for some time now. 

Now he’d done that for her, and if he pressed it, then he could claim she owed him a favor. 

_Which is not such a bad idea. It could come in very handy in the future._

He looked back at the scrying flower, aware as he did that Dennis was off again. He watched as Shun’s head dipped lower down on his chest, worn out from all the worrying that he’d done over his sister. 

Yuuri brushed his finger over the water, not quite touching it, but enough so that he knew his new slave would sense something. He might not know what, but something. 

_You have no more need to worry. You are mine now and I take care of what is mine._

After all, if he didn’t, he’d lose an interesting toy, and while Yuuri played rough with what was his, he still took good care of his possessions. No one else could ruin his property. 

* * *

Shun lifted his head, looking around. Had someone called his name? 

No. Sayaka had left shortly after Dennis vanished – which Shun refused to think about. One of the few high points of leaving the village would be that he wouldn’t ever see Dennis again. He did not want to consider that Dennis could have anything at all to do with the fae. 

He looked back at Ruri, who slept much easier now. This was one of the low points of leaving: after this week, he’d never see her again. 

Well, maybe not. Maybe he could persuade his new master – that hurt even to think about – to let him visit on occasion. Or watch her somehow. Surely there would be a way. Fae had magic, and while he didn’t know what use the fae lord would want to put him to, surely a few minutes every week or so could be spared? 

He’d do his best to find out. He’d probably have to earn it in some fashion. That would make sense for a mortal lord and his servants. Exactly how much a fae lord would be like a mortal lord… well, he’d find out sooner or later. 

_I must have imagined it._ It wouldn’t at all be the first time he’d felt or heard something odd while he was half-dozing, especially since Ruri got sick. 

But right now he wouldn’t leave her side, not when she hadn’t recovered. He trusted she would. He’d already seen an improvement just in the way she rested. He hoped by the time the week was up she would be fully healed and on her feet and ready to take on life by herself. 

That still twisted inside of him. He found a way to recover her, but the price was himself, for all intents and purposes. He didn’t _mind_. He would’ve given it ten times over if it were necessary. But the thought of just never seeing her again, of her living out her life, eventually forgetting him, perhaps convincing herself that he’d abandoned her or died… 

No. He wouldn’t allow that, not at all. He’d find something to tie them together that she would never forget. 

Tomorrow. Tomorrow he would look through the marketplace and see what he could find there. He had little money, which was yet another reason the physician hadn’t been very inclined to help them out, but he’d do _something_ , even if he had no idea of what it could be. 

He tilted his head as another of those odd sensations poured over him, as if someone were watching him, thinking about him. 

Then he knew who it was and he could not help the raw shiver that ran all through him. 

It was his new master, of course. Watching him from afar. Shun held back a different kind of shiver altogether and looked to where Ruri slept. He could only hope that whatever she dreamed of, it had nothing to do with the fae. 

* * *

_So he wants something to bind them together so she won’t forget him._

Yuuri smiled. Kurosaki Shun fell so easily into his hands. But he would let the other search first. Let him despair first. Let him build up fear after fear of what might happen with his sister after he came to take his proper place at Yuuri’s feet. 

Then Yuuri would prove how good of a master he really was, and Kurosaki Shun would worship him forever. 

* * *

Soft fingers, far finer than anything that Ruri could remember touching her in the past, caressed past her cheeks. Someone pressed against her, an arm sliding around her. 

“You’re going to be well again soon. Then I will come for you.” 

Protests lay on Ruri’s lips but she said nothing. She quivered under the other’s touch, warm, with a wild fragrance all around her. 

“Soon we’ll be together. I can hardly wait.” 

Ruri wanted to ask about her brother. The idiot couldn’t make it on his own. She knew that. But still no words crossed her lips, and soon enough, she fell back into the blissful arms of sleep. 

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** I had this plan for Selena and Ruri from the very beginning. No one's surprised it's Selena in Ruri's mind, are they?


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Word Count:** 1,415|| **Story Word Count:** 5,565|| **Chapter Count:** 4/25

* * *

Ruri could feel someone holding her hand. She knew who it was without having to open her eyes. Vague recollections of being fed something slowly ghosted their way into her mind. She’d eaten it. Almost from that moment, she found it easier to breathe and the pain slowly ebbed away. 

It wasn’t all gone, but she thought it might be soon. She was better. She was on the way to being well. 

Her brother sat next to her, and somehow he’d done this. She couldn't shake that feeling, either. It didn’t surprise her. Shun would do anything he could for her. 

Which raised the question next of _how_ he’d done it. She’d heard what the physician said: that he couldn’t help her. Only the magic of the fae had a chance. 

So if that were true – and she didn’t see why it wouldn’t be – then somehow Shun bargained with the fae to save her. 

_What did they want from him? From me?_ She’d read about fae bargains before. They would ask for something. They would _want_ something and it could be nearly anything. 

She started to open her eyes. She had to know what it was. Nothing ever came for free from anyone, let alone the fae, and she would not sit here with a debt unpaid. 

“Ruri?” 

The room was lit only by firelight. Shun jerked upright as soon as she began to stir, and she could see the shadows under his eyes. He needed to sleep. Had he stayed with her this whole time while she recovered? 

“Big brother?” she murmured, finding it difficult to talk. He moved, and she couldn’t quite see what he did until he leaned closer with a cup of water and something like an apple slice. 

She remembered. The taste of that apple sang on her tongue still, a shimmering piece of heaven itself. So when he rested it against her lips, she eagerly bit into it. The more of it she ate, the better she felt. 

When she’d finished, she looked up to meet Shun’s eyes. They were always the most expressive part of him, even for someone who wore his anger on his sleeve and his heart tucked away where few could see it. 

Something upset him. It wasn’t just her sickness. It was whatever he’d done to help her. She knew that look, whenever he did something he classified as ‘for her own good’. 

“You made a deal,” she said, searching for the words and the strength to say them. She wasn’t asking. She just needed the details. 

He didn’t try to hide it from her. He nodded, just once. The worry didn’t fade from him and she kept on trying. 

“What did you pay for it?” 

This time Shun said nothing. He closed his eyes, his fingers tightening against his palms, and she waited. He would tell her. He couldn’t _not_ tell her. 

“Myself,” he said at last, and Ruri’s heart stuttered. “The fae lord I bargained with...he wants _me_ in exchange for your life.” 

Ruri’s own fingers tensed on the roughly woven blanket over her. “For how long?” The idea of being without her brother for any long period of time wasn’t one Ruri could really get her head around. The chance of it had always existed; one or both of them could suffer some kind of an accident or illness, or fall in love and marry far away from there, without the other able to come along. 

But that didn’t mean she wanted it to happen. He would only be gone a short while, she told herself. A few weeks, a month or two. Perhaps a year or so. Seven years? Wasn’t that what the stories claimed? 

“Forever,” Shun said, pressing his lips together as he spoke the word. “My life for yours.” 

Ruri managed to process that. Somehow. Then she started to scramble to her feet, shaking her head. “No.” 

She didn’t care who this fae lord was, but she’d track him down and _make him_ give her brother back, even if he hadn’t left yet. 

Shun didn’t let her get out of bed. “Ruri, I’ve only got a few days left before I have to go to him.” The revulsion in his words spoke volumes. This wasn’t something he looked forward to. “I’m going to ask Crow to help you.” 

Ruri found she couldn’t have gotten out of bed no matter how much she tried. She just didn’t have the strength to do it. Her anger wouldn’t take her that far. 

“Crow?” She’d met her brother’s friend before. He wasn’t a bad guy; he really enjoyed taking care of the three or four orphans in town. But he wasn’t her brother. 

Shun nodded, his eyes darkening as he spoke. “Watch for Dennis. He knows that fae.” 

Now she stared even more; this was getting more confusing by the moment. Dennis spent his time roaming around town, playing for money, amusing anyone who encountered him. The idea of him being in any way connected to the mysterious fae...she couldn’t wrap her mind around that, either. 

“When...when are you going?” Even asking the question didn’t make this seem any more real. 

Perhaps it wasn’t. Perhaps she was just imagining it, caught up in a fever dream, no matter how good she felt. Shun couldn’t be leaving her. 

It was the anger that made it worse, she thought. If Shun _liked_ this fae lord, if there had been some marvelous love story in the making, it would’ve been different. To abandon humanity for love… she’d read about it before. 

But every tilt of his head and flare of his eyes told her another story. 

“What’s his name?” Ruri wanted to know. She would need to know who to curse at when the time came. 

Shun started to open his mouth when someone else interrupted. 

“You may call me _Yuuri-sama_.” 

The fae lord stood in the doorway, glancing curiously around their home for a few moments before he stepped farther in. 

“I still have five days left!” Shun snapped as he rose up to his feet, fists clenched. 

“Oh, I know. I’m not here to take you home today. I wanted to introduce myself properly to your sister.” 

He strolled over to the bed. Ruri hurried to get herself sitting up. She already didn’t like this guy, but she wasn’t going to greet a fae lord on her back if she had anything to say about it. 

He came to a stop behind Shun and rested one hand on the back of his neck. Shun started to twist away, but Yuuri tightened his grip, all without losing that far too sweet smile. 

“Your brother paid for me to hear his bargain with a very attractive little sculpting, and then paid for your life with his, as my slave for all time. He will neither age nor die while in he fae realm, as long as pleases me. In a thousand years, should he have given me good enough service in that time, he will look just as he does now.” Yuuri stroked the back of Shun’s neck, a possessive smile on his lips. “Though perhaps better dressed. My possessions must reflect well on me, not be garbed in trash.” 

Ruri snarled, surging up to her feet now, not caring about how she couldn’t earlier. “We do not wear _trash_!” She wanted to insist that Shun wasn’t a slave, either, but the fact she could speak at all spoke to the nature of their bargain, as much as she hated the very idea. 

“Look again.” 

Ruri blinked, confused, before she took another look at Shun and gasped out loud. 

Where he’d worn the sensible clothing of a peasant, sturdy woolen pants and shirt, well-worn leather boots from the local cobbler, now she saw him in garments that even royalty would’ve envied, chosen to suit his coloring, of the finest weaves and stitching she’d ever seen. 

He looked like a prince. 

Yuuri traced one finger over Shun’s neck now. “These garments tell everyone who sees him what his position in my household is. People will envy him for the luxury he will live in. If he pleases me enough, and I find anyone who might want him more than I do, I may grant him freedom to wed another.” He pressed his lips to the back of Shun’s neck and Shun shuddered, eyes wide and wild at the contact. “But I don’t anticipate _that_ happening ever.” 

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** The fae play fair...but only by their own rules.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Word Count:** 1,477|| **Story Word Count:** 7,042|| **Chapter Count:** 5/25

* * *

Shun could still feel Yuuri’s hands on him, even after the fae lord departed. At least when he’d left, he’d taken that overly fancy outfit with him. It hadn’t been an illusion, or if it was, it extended to touch as well. He’d felt every inch of silk and velvet against his skin, the way the fine leather boots – they couldn’t have been from a normal mortal animal – molded to his legs. 

And he could feel something else as well, a hint of awareness more than anything else. 

All of those clothes, for all their fancy ties and buttons, could easily be removed. It would take a handful of moments, if that long. 

_These garments tell everyone who sees him what his position in my household is._

If that was the sort of outfit that Yuuri’s slaves wore… Shun shuddered at that. Bad enough that he would have to do whatever Yuuri said, but thinking about it at all before the time came? That he’d rather not do. 

He’d much rather enjoy the last days he had with Ruri. 

She hadn’t stopped talking about how much she hated all of this for a moment, not since Yuuri vanished. He didn’t blame her. He felt the same way. 

But now he caught her hand in his. “You should get some rest,” he told her, starting to get up. “I need to go talk to Crow.” He could see the signs of her rising strength, but the more she rested, the better. She could walk around again tomorrow. 

He still couldn’t entirely believe she’d walk around at all. She’d hovered so close to death, and now, by true magic, she would have a full and healthy life. 

Ruri grumbled some more as she coiled herself under the blanket and closed her eyes. He waited just long enough to assure himself she was asleep before he headed out, hurrying through the winding village pathways until he came to a slightly larger house than the others. 

It wasn’t a fancy house by any means. It was only slightly larger because Crow made certain all of his charges slept no more than two to a room, and since there were six or seven orphans in the village at any one time, that meant at least three rooms other than the one he slept in. Add in a general sort of playroom – used mostly when foul weather threatened and to store the few handmade toys that the children had – and a kitchen and common eating room, and a room for Crow himself to sleep in, and that was about it. 

At least Ruri was too old to live here. Crow tended to his charges until they were roughly sixteen or until they managed to snag themselves an apprenticeship somewhere in the village, unless their new teacher couldn’t offer a bed and board for them. Ruri was four years beyond that, and had already learned a great deal about sewing and mending from the local seamstress, even if that wasn’t an official apprenticeship. So at least she’d be situated to provide for herself after he left. 

Mostly, anyway. He still didn’t trust Dennis. 

Shun didn’t even get halfway to the orphanage before one of the kids outside spied him and set up a joyful shriek. She dropped everything to dart toward him and wrap her arms around his leg, babbling cheerfully as she did, while one of the others raced inside to let Crow know he was there. 

At least Shun presumed that was what the kid did; he couldn’t get close enough now that he had an attachment to know what happened. But Crow stepped outside, a trace of soap suds on his arms revealing he’d been managing the laundry before this. 

“Didn’t think I’d see you around for a while,” Crow greeted with a quick nod of his head. “How’s… how’s it going?” 

What he wasn’t asking was how Ruri was. As far as anyone else knew, she still hovered on death’s door. 

_I’ll have to figure out something to tell people._ That bothered Shun. It was one of the reasons he’d decided to talk to Crow about this. 

“Better than I thought, honestly,” Shun told him. He glanced at the kids, then back over to his friend, one eyebrow cocked in a silent question. Crow understood right away, nodding. 

“Kids, go play in the backyard,” he ordered quietly. None of them looked overly thrilled about that, but they did as he said anyway. Crow very seldom told them things like that unless he meant it. 

Once they left, he delivered a stern look toward Shun. “All right. What happened?” 

Shun wasn’t in the habit of holding back when he needed to say something. 

“I sold myself to a fae lord to heal Ruri. I have less than a week before I have to go to him, for the rest of my life.” And since his life would extend forever, that meant he’d be a slave for eternity. 

He still hadn’t fully wrapped his head around that. But Yuuri’s touch certainly helped. 

Crow blinked once or twice, staring at him in raw disbelief. If anyone else had said that, then without a doubt he would’ve laughed at what had to be a joke. 

But Shun didn’t joke. He laughed at them at times – rare times – but he didn’t make them himself. 

“You did what?” 

Shun repeated it. “I don’t think I’ll be able to come back. So there’s something I’d like you to do for me.” 

“Hold on, I think I’m still trying to deal with you having sold yourself to a fae lord,” Crow said, waving one hand to get him to stop. “What happened to getting professional help?” 

Shun pressed his lips together. “That was the professional help. There wasn’t anything the physician could do. I checked with him first.” He’d spent the last of his coin on having him come check on Ruri as well. He would have to do _something_ to fill the house with food before he left. He trusted Ruri’s skills to keep herself clothed and fed and with the roof over her head, but he wasn’t just going to walk off with her less than a week out of bed and expect her to do it all. There would have to be time when she didn’t have to take care of herself, even after he was gone. 

Couldn’t he have at least had a year and a day, not a week? Some of the tales he’d read before he’d embarked on this scheme mentioned that. Apparently Yuuri made his own rules. 

Shun gathered himself and looked at Crow. “I need you to watch out for her. Dennis is involved in this somehow. He knows the fae lord: Yuuri-sama.” 

Shun hadn’t meant to add the honorific. But it fell from his lips all the same and an odd warmth of pleasure spread through him when he said it. 

He struggled to get past it, explaining what he could to Crow, how he planned to get enough food for Ruri to last until at least a week or two after his departure, how he wanted Crow just to make sure that Dennis didn’t bother her. 

He didn’t ask him to watch out for her social life. He trusted Ruri to handle that three weeks into her grave, let alone when she was walking around and well again. 

Crow listened to everything he had to say and when Shun finally stopped, he had but one answer. 

“Of course, you idiot. And I still think you’re twice an idiot for doing this and not even trying to bargain with the guy.” 

Shun wasn’t going to argue about that. He refused to speak of the shuddering fear that rose whenever he thought too much about how close Ruri came to death, how his life for hers was hardly an unequal bargain, and all that he wondered and worried about what would happen to him in Yuuri’s service meant nothing compared to her. 

“I’ll come visit if I can. But I don’t know when or if.” That was all that he could say. He started to extend one hand to Crow for their usual handshake, and Crow shook his head. 

“Stay for dinner. Least I can do.” 

Shun hesitated only for a moment before he nodded. It had been too long since he’d shared a meal with Crow and the kids anyway. And he would likely not see any of them for a long, long time. 

And Crow was also the best liar in the village when it came to it – except maybe Dennis – so if anyone could help him forge a story for the ears of others, it would be him. 

Preferably the kind of story that wouldn’t have people looking for him or bothering Ruri. Especially not that last. 

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** I do believe this is the first time I’ve _ever_ written Crow and Shun interacting, and I’ve been a fan of their friendship since they dueled in Arc-V. Well, I do have plans for others. In the future.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Word Count:** 1,360|| **Story Word Count:** 8,402|| **Chapter Count:** 6/25

* * *

As far as Shun knew, no one, not even the fae, had the power to control time. Some places could change how it affected one, but time itself just moved at the normal pace, one second after another, never winding back on itself, never moving too fast. 

Regardless of that, the last week he spent with Ruri sped by on wings of fire. He spent as much time as he could with her, and when she slept, which happened with less frequency as her health improved, he hurried around town to get everything that she would need. He wouldn’t leave until the absolute last minute, and he would have everything he could think of done beforehand. 

He’d come up with a story to spread around town. It wasn’t much of one, since it held echoes of the truth as well. A wealthy noble he’d encountered without warning offered to pay for Ruri’s cure, but he insisted that Shun come to live with him, but Ruri couldn’t. Keeping it simple meant that there weren’t as many chances he would spill the full truth in those last days. 

Most people considered him lucky, having such an opportunity as this. He’d been very vague about what he would be doing – mostly because what he’d gathered from Yuuri’s visit hadn’t told him much anyway – but everyone agreed that living in an elegant home with someone willing to be so kind to him was a step up. 

Shun didn’t know if he agreed with that. He had too much else on his mind. 

And then the final day dawned. He’d barely slept a wink, but as the sky turned to a brilliant blue and Ruri stirred in her bed, he could not escape the knowledge that this was the last day that he’d see his sister. 

“Breakfast!” He declared, after dragging himself up to get it done. He’d made every meal for her over the last week, even when she protested she was strong enough to do it herself. 

Now she just gave him an amused look, one that faded in moments. He thought he knew why: she’d done a count of the days and knew what he had to do today. 

“You don’t have to leave until tomorrow,” Ruri pointed out even as she started to eat. “That will be a full week.” 

“I know.” Shun nodded. He would pack his bags tonight, what little he would be taking with him. Yuuri would provide clothes, he knew, but there were little treasures that he wanted to make sure he didn’t forget. 

“You can wait until tomorrow night, too,” Ruri offered. “He didn’t say at dawn, did he?” 

Shun slowly shook his head. The idea of waiting until the day after appealed as well. Torn between his commitment to his duty and his love for his sister… he didn’t know what to do. 

Then a far too cheery redhead poked his head inside one of the open windows. “Hi there!” Dennis chirped. “Hope you’ll be ready on time tomorrow. Yuuri-sama wants me to bring you to him personally.” 

Shun’s hand tightened over the wooden spoon. “Doesn’t he trust me to keep my word?” 

Dennis laughed, casually crawling in through the window. “Yuuri-sama doesn’t trust anyone… who isn’t me, anyway. Maybe when you’ve served him as long as I have, he might. But tomorrow at dawn, you need to be by the forest with your bags. I’ll meet you there.” 

Shun and Ruri both gave him furious looks, Ruri rising up to her feet. “No one invited you inside, Macfield,” Ruri declared, eyes sparking in rage. “You delivered your message and you have no other reason to be here.” 

Dennis blinked, head tilting to one side. “Aren’t you going to invite me to breakfast?” 

“No.” Shun’s voice was as flat as Ruri’s. “You’re not welcome here.” Both of them had told him that more than once, but he never seemed to quite get his head wrapped around the idea. 

Now he blinked again. “Why not?” 

Shun couldn’t even begin to list all the reasons, but they started with the way Dennis tried to flirt with his sister when she wanted nothing of it. Friendship she would tolerate, but nothing more. 

Now Dennis turned toward her, with that far too cheerful smile on his lips, the one that made Shun want to punch him into the nearest wall. He didn’t think he’d have the chance once they were both officially serving Yuuri, and now seemed like an extremely good time to do it. 

Ruri caught his eye and shook her head a little before she faced Dennis herself. 

“Dennis, neither one of us invited you. You know that. If you’re ever wanted here, I’ll let you know. Now, leave, before I make sure that one of the last things that my brother sees before he leaves here is you in absolute agony.” 

There wasn’t a single note to her words to indicate she meant anything less than the absolute truth. Dennis’s gaze flicked from one to the other of them before he bowed low. 

Shun didn’t like the way that he looked before he did that, either. 

“If that is your desire, then so shall it be. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He tilted his head toward Shun at that, and then was gone, without a sign to show if he’d left through the door or window or just puffed into the air. 

Ruri sank back down into her chair and sighed deeply. “I almost wish I could go with you, brother.” 

“It wouldn’t do any good to avoid him,” Shun reminded her, setting the spoon he’d held all this time down. “He’s there, too.” 

That didn’t encourage him to look forward to his new life under any means. At least he’d done what he could so far. It would be up to Ruri after this. 

He wanted to tell her that, but before he could shape the words, cheerful childish laughter came from outside, and Crow’s voice breached the morning air. 

“Hello! Anyone there?” 

At least these visitors came with an invitation and would’ve been welcome even without one. 

* * *

Shun wanted his last day to take its time. To have time to savor every last moment with Ruri and Crow and the kids. He wanted this one last day to last for a thousand years. 

Instead, he barely blinked – or so it felt – and Crow and his kids were gone, with Crow promising to check in on Ruri to see how she was doing, and dinner was eaten and the dishes washed one last time. 

“I’m going to miss you,” Ruri said, hugging him. She’d never felt so strong to him. The cure did its work well. 

That made everything worth it. 

“I’ll miss you, too,” he replied, arm going around her. He wished he could find more words to say, more that would say everything he’d realized he’d never said. 

How proud he was of her. How glad he was that she would remain strong and find her own way. 

He didn’t think she would stay in the village much longer. He wasn’t sure if he wanted her to, not with how close it was to the fae lands and Yuuri. And Dennis. 

But he would let her make that decision. She had to follow her own path now, apart from his. His led to the fae and to the feet of a creature he barely knew. 

The two of them fell asleep, when Shun had wanted to stay awake and guard her rest one last time. 

In his dreams, he knelt in a throne room of unbelievable beauty, and Yuuri-sama loomed over him, a satisfied smile on his lips as he ran his fingers through Shun’s hair. 

“You have pleased me very well,” Yuuri-sama whispered. “You shall be rewarded for this.” 

Shun could hear his own voice, submissive and eager to please. “Pleasing you is its own reward, master.” 

The sound of Yuuri’s laughter followed Shun out of his dreams. His gaze fell on the eastern window, just as the stars began to fade out from the sky with the coming of the new day. 

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** Shun is about to head out to Yuuri’s. So what does Yuuri have in mind? Well, the rating should tell you at least something.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Word Count:** 1,389|| **Story Word Count:** 9,791|| **Chapter Word Count:** 7/25

* * *

“I’d tell you to behave yourself, but I know you better than that,” Ruri said, wrapping her favorite red scarf around Shun’s neck. Rumor had it that the lands of the fae knew not the touch of winter or chill, but she wanted him to have it anyway. It would be one link between the two of them, no matter what else happened. 

Shun didn’t argue about the scarf. He knew how his sister thought. Instead, he gave her a hug and a cautioning look of his own. 

“Try not to kill Dennis in any way that would get you put in prison.” If he turned out to deserve it and she could do it in a way that didn’t harm her in the process, he would be the last person to mourn Dennis. 

Though what Yuuri might say, Shun didn’t know, and decided not to worry too much about. 

Ruri considered for a few moments, then nodded. “Let’s go.” He started to say something and she shook her head. “I’m just going with you as far as I can. To the forest at least, and as far beyond as I’m allowed.” 

Ruri didn’t want him to go. But she couldn’t just let him walk off and not know that he’d made it to his destination safely. And she wasn’t going to let him argue about it either way. 

Shun sighed. “All right. Let’s go.” He picked up his few bags and headed resolutely down to the path that led to the forest. Ruri fell into step with him, each of them quiet and lost in their own thoughts for right now. 

Ruri knew Dennis would be there. The idea of Shun going along with just him, of those slick barbs and shaded words being her brother’s only company, sickened her. She wouldn’t let it happen. 

If that put her at risk at going home with just Dennis herself, she didn’t care. She’d find a way to make him shut up. 

Neither of the Kurosakis were surprised to see Dennis lounging against one of the trees near the beginning of the forest path. But what did surprise them was the fact that Crow himself lounged on the opposite side of the path, cleaning his fingernails with a small knife and giving the occasional look over to Dennis. 

Dennis, for his part, was doing a credible attempt at pretending he didn’t see Crow. Shun didn’t try to hide his smile at all. Nor did Ruri. 

“Thought you might want a little company,” Crow said, glancing at Ruri. “Guess I wasn’t the only one.” 

Ruri grinned back at him. “It wouldn’t be right for him to go off without a proper escort, would it?” 

“Not at all!” 

A different sort of smile touched on Shun’s lips at this. He could count on Crow to help Ruri. He’d known that all along. Just seeing it in action made it all the better, though. 

Dennis cleared his throat. “You two won’t be able to go all the way. Only fae or those claimed by the fae can cross the barrier past the clearing.” 

“That’s fine,” Ruri said with a quick nod. “We’ll go as far as we can.” She reached up to rest a hand on her brother’s shoulder for a silent moment before the three started forward, leaving Dennis behind. 

He stared after them for a few seconds before yelping and jumping ahead of them, strutting forward as if he leading the pack. Shun paid no mind at all to him, listening to Crow and Ruri talk as they walked. They made plans for her to come visit the kids on a regular basis, and a few things that they could probably help each other with concerning mending supplies and items of clothing that needed mending. 

Part of it hurt to listen to: to things that he wouldn’t be a part of. But more of it reassured him that Crow and Ruri both would be all right, that they’d not be worse off without him there. It wasn’t what he dreamed of, but it would encourage him in the days to come. 

Yuuri lounged in the embrace of a large flower that Shun couldn’t have named as they entered the clearing. One of the flower’s vines draped over him and he ran his fingers along it much as if he were petting a dog or a cat. 

“I see we have company,” he said without looking up. He held his other hand out toward Shun. “Come here and take my hand.” 

Shun hesitated for a few seconds before he took a step forward. Yuuri raised a finger and he stopped. “Put those bags down. Dennis will take them home. _My_ home.” He lifted his head. “ _Our_ home.” 

Shun set the bags down before he looked at Crow and Ruri. “Take care of each other,” was all he could bring himself to say before Yuuri snapped his fingers, somehow making it sound annoyed. 

“Come here and take my hand. I have to mark you before we go.” Yuuri lifted his head to look at Ruri and Crow. “I wouldn’t advise the two of you watching.” He flicked his fingers. “You’ve escorted him safely. Now he’s with me: where he belongs.” 

Dennis had already vanished with Shun’s belongings. Shun reached his hand out to take Yuuri’s, and as their flesh met, all thoughts of everyone else who stood there vanished from his mind. All that he could see was Yuuri, staring at him with that mad smirk. 

“Welcome to where you belong,” Yuuri purred, pulling Shun closer to him and pressing his lips possessively over Shun’s. 

Shun thought he vaguely heard something like footsteps but the sound and the thought faded away almost as soon as he thought them. Only Yuuri was there, and only Yuuri mattered, as Yuuri, his lord and master, kissed him slowly and thoroughly, moving him around until Shun lay in the flower’s embrace. 

Yuuri knelt over him, knees on the inside of Shun’s long legs, spreading them, and a glimmer of a blade appeared in his hands. Taking his time, Yuuri cut each piece of Shun’s clothes off, ending with the scarf around his neck. There wasn’t a single piece of them that would even qualify for rags after Yuuri dealt with them. 

“This is my mark on you,” Yuuri murmured, staring down into Shun’s glazed eyes. “Any of my people will see it and know you are mine. There are still places you won’t be allowed, but you will go where it is important for you to go.” 

He smiled at that as he brought his lips down once more on Shun’s unresisting, passionately eager lips. “This is my price for saving your sister, and you agreed to it. Are you mine?” 

“Yes,” Shun agreed without hesitation. “I’m yours, master.” 

Shun began to return Yuuri’s kisses, his heart racing at the idea of his master’s touch. Nothing else mattered to him right now. Only pleasing the one he belonged to, as often as his master desired. 

* * *

Ruri didn’t look back as she and Crow hurried back down the trail. She tried not to let the tears in her eyes blind her, but it wasn’t easy. With just a few words, her proud, strong brother melted into the fae lord’s arms, not even looking at them anymore, as if he didn’t even know they existed. 

“Fae glamor,” Crow muttered as they hurried. “I’ve heard about it, but I never saw it. Course, I haven’t seen any fae before, either.” 

She made a curious noise, glancing at him for a moment, wanting to know more and at the same time, too sickened to want to know anything at all. 

“It’s a kind of spell, I think. Shun gave himself over to that fae lord and the glamor… all he’s going to see or care about is what his lord wants him to see or care about.” Crow swallowed. “He’s gone, Ruri. He’s not dead, but… he’s not the Shun we knew anymore. He might not ever be again.” 

Crow clenched his fist. “And if I ever see that fae jerk again, I’m going to find out if he can survive a knife in the guts.” 

Ruri swallowed, eyes flashing with a sudden burning rage. “Not if I see him first.” 

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** The next chapter will have more detailed, but still not explicit, intimacy. Not all of it will be with Shun mesmerized by Yuuri's magic, either. What's the fun for Yuuri if Shun's not putting up _some_ fight, right?


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Word Count:** 1,347|| **Story Word Count:** 11,138|| **Chapter Count:** 8/25  
 **Notes:** This chapter involves an intimate encounter between Shun and Yuuri. The consent in this chapter is obtained through A: the bargain Yuuri and Shun made, and B: Yuuri's own enchantments. Read at your own risk.

* * *

Yuuri trailed his lips down from Shun’s, caressing over his collarbones, moving from side to side. He knew without having to look up that it was just the two of them here. Dennis would stay away until Yuuri called him, and the two mortals would avoid the clearing for at least a few days. 

Just the two of them. Just him and his new, fresh, untouched toy, about to be very touched indeed. 

His eyes met Shun’s: so brilliant gold, the eyes of a falcon, and so dulled at the same time, the eyes of a bound slave, who would do anything Yuuri commanded because it was his lord and master who commanded it. 

Yuuri smiled before he began to make his way farther down Shun’s chest, fingers pressing hot against Shun’s shoulders. 

_Wake up,_ he whispered, touching onto Shun’s mind. As much as he thoroughly enjoyed proving to Shun that Yuuri owned him, he wanted at least a little resistance. What would be the fun in crushing it if it wasn’t there to start with? 

He could feel Shun moving underneath him at once, then a sudden gasp of breath as Yuuri’s lips found a particular point on his flesh. 

“Wha-” 

“Shh.” Yuuri whispered, trailing his tongue over Shun’s flesh again before he looked up to meet Shun’s eyes. Confusion and anger warred within them, and he enjoyed the sight. There wasn’t much he enjoyed more than someone fighting and failing against him. “I told you. This is necessary.” He smiled. “Not to mention this is part of what you will do to serve me.” 

Shun made another noise, and Yuuri frowned. It sounded too much like ‘no’ for his taste. He moved one of his hands. He’d spent many a long eternity learning what would hurt humans and what would please them. Sometimes their places weren’t the same, but he would spend time finding where they all were if he needed to. 

This time, he hit the right spot, and Shun arched upward, eyes suddenly wide with shock and pain. 

“We bargained, remember, Kurosaki Shun,” Yuuri reminded him, even as his hands moved over, finding those places that brought pleasure instead of pain. “I _own_ you now. I will _always_ own you. You have no right to deny me anything.” 

He didn’t care if Shun said anything that would make sense. He didn’t _want_ Shun to talk right now. 

So he returned his attention to overwhelming Shun with all the most intense pleasure and unrivaled pain that he could conjure up. 

* * *

Shun wanted to say things. Shun wanted to protest that he hadn’t been told his duties would involve being naked on a large flower, with the fae lord on top of him, clearly with intent to deflower him. 

Deflowered in a flower… 

He had a feeling Dennis would laugh about that. Worse, that Yuuri-sama would laugh, and do it all over again. 

And Yuuri’s hands and lips kept on moving, touching parts of him that Shun hadn’t ever known could feel the way that they did. Pleasure and pain warred within him, a tide of agony countered by a wave of bliss, crashing into one another, and every little word that wanted to shape itself on his lips fell apart, replaced only by noises that made no sense at all, but conveyed meaning all the same. 

A meaning that Shun didn’t choose but couldn’t prevent. A meaning, simple and to the point of _wanting more_. 

He wasn’t able to say it out loud, but either his body said more than he wanted it to, or Yuuri didn’t care if he wanted it or not, as long as he took what he viewed as his. 

Yuuri’s hands weren’t soft or gentle. Every touch sent another spiral of something all through him. Shun writhed against the cup of the flower, even more noises boiling up in his throat, until the pleasure overpowered the pain, and he cried out one word that did make sense. 

“ _Yuuri-sama_!” 

He fell backwards against the flower-cup’s embrace, a light sheen of sweat all over him, and Yuuri pressed his lips against Shun’s. Shun didn’t return it, until he could feel Yuuri’s reprimanding hand on him. 

“That was just the beginning,” the fae lord murmured into his ear. “We’re going to be here until dawn tomorrow.” 

“Why that long?” Shun asked, somewhat surprised that he’d even managed to make the words. Yuuri’s hands remained near some of those places that would spark raw pain if Yuuri so chose. 

But now Yuuri smiled at him, then leaned over to press his lips against the hollow of Shun’s throat. 

“Because of two reasons. That’s how long it will take for the spells binding you to me to finish themselves. Our lovemaking will seal it entirely and then you will enter my realm.” 

He licked slowly and Shun could feel his arousal intensifying once more. “And the second reason is because that’s how long I _want_ to take with you.” 

Yuuri smiled at him again. Shun decided that he didn’t like Yuuri’s smiles. “After I’ve brought you to my palace, then I think I’ll introduce you to my bedroom. We’re going to be very busy for some time.” 

He kept on playing with Shun, every moment bringing a fresh dart of raw pleasure through him, in a different fashion than the time before. “Your duties won’t just involve the pleasures of the flesh, however. There will be a great deal of that, of course. But I think we could state that your only real purpose is to _obey me_.” 

Yuuri’s teeth snapped suddenly against Shun’s neck, right at the front, his tongue caressing fiercely against Shun’s skin, working there harder and harder. Shun realized what he was doing a heartbeat later: leaving a mark there. One positioned so that no matter what he wore, nothing short of winter-wear would cover it up. And Yuuri had already sliced the scarf Ruri gave him into little more than pretty threads. 

Shun tried to reach upward, not sure what he would do if he could, and found out that he could not: vines he hadn’t even seen or felt until now wrapped around his wrists, keeping him from doing anything, especially from stopping Yuuri from doing anything. 

Shun found himself squirming underneath Yuuri, caught up in that web of pleasure and pain once more. He couldn’t do anything but submit, no matter how much he wanted to do otherwise. 

_You made a bargain,_ his conscience reminded him ruthlessly. _This is all for… for..._

He wanted to remember who he’d done this for. He’d just thought their name a heartbeat earlier, but now… now it all seemed to fade away. It didn’t even seem important that he remembered. 

Shun began to mold himself against Yuuri-sama once more. He wanted to please him. He wanted to make his master feel as good as he Yuuri-sama made _him_ feel. The idea of spending a full day here in this glorious place appealed to him. It would mark the beginning of his new life. 

* * *

Yuuri so looked forward to the slow play of his power over Shun’s will. Shun would – or could – fight him only to the extent that Yuuri allowed it. He would remember how good it felt to submit to his master, what the pain of punishment was like, and what he should do to please Yuuri. 

After a few decades, Yuuri wouldn’t even need his spells to keep him in line. That would almost be a shame. But he’d never yet met the human who could resist him for longer than that. 

Now he brushed through the restraints he’d placed on Shun’s mind just a little, enough so that Shun would be fully aware of what was going on as Yuuri took him for the first time. He wanted Shun to know what was going on, to react as a mortal being bedded by his new lord would. 

And he wasn’t surprised at all when Shun cried out his name a second time at the peak of their pleasure. 

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** Yup. Deflowered in a flower. In a _lily_ in fact.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Word Count:** 1,340|| **Story Word Count:** 12,478|| **Chapter Count:** 9/25  
 **Notes:** Selena as a fae. Yuuri and Shun’s intimate encounter continues. References to magical mind control.

* * *

Yuuri had finally done something useful: he’d taken care of Ruri’s brother, so now Selena didn’t have to worry about him trying to ride to the rescue. Now she had Ruri all to herself. 

Well, she would have her. It would take longer than she’d planned _because_ of what Yuuri did, but she’d already begun to make her plans on how to deal with it. 

She turned her attention towards Ruri, who’d only just returned to her home after attending to her brother’s gifting of himself to his new master. The mortal sat before the low-burning fire, her eyes dark and sad. 

Selena couldn’t let her stay like that, of course. Her heart genuinely went out to the poor girl. She would have to do something to help her. It would have to be subtle. It would have to be something Ruri wouldn’t expect as coming from the fae. 

_She won’t trust us as long as she can remember that the fae took her brother away from her._

That offered an answer in and of itself. Selena wasn’t so skilled at weaving memories in or out as some of those she knew were. But that was why she traded favors when she had something someone else wanted. 

It took her a few minutes to search her shelves before she found it: a slender crystal vial full of a rich red liquid. 

_Now, how to get it to her so she suspects nothing?_

Ah, yes. This would work well with her major plan. Ruri might remember her brother a few days longer, but in the end, it would work out the same. 

Selena would have to tread a careful dance in all of this. Ruri trusted nothing that was fae now. But Selena, like most fae, took what she wanted. Ruri would be happy once she was adjusted to the lifestyle she’d have with Selena. It would be far more than she had now, with a small dark cottage and only a handful of folk who trusted her to be able to manage herself. 

With gossamer-light footsteps, Selena made her way to the forest glen where she cast most of her magic. Along the way she picked up Yuzu, whose voice rivaled the sirens for beauty, and who was as much hers as Ruri was. 

Yuzu had been mortal once too. But she’d cast that aside for Selena, becoming fae to live forever with her beloved. 

“Are you ready?” Selena asked as they entered the circular glen. Yuzu nodded. 

“How long until she comes to us?” There was still a hint of reluctance, but little more than that. Even after two centuries, she hadn’t fully accepted the fae way of taking what they wanted in all ways. 

Selena leaned over and brushed her lips across Yuzu’s. “Not long. This will encourage her to come out so we can meet her. She’ll come to us because she wants to, Yuzu. You know that.” 

Yuzu had come because she’d wanted to. Because Selena’s dancing wove a magic that lit the fires of _wanting_ in her, and Yuzu couldn’t resist it once it called to her. 

Fae always got what they wanted. And who they wanted. 

Now, Yuzu began to sing, her siren song spiraled outward, unheard by mortal ears, but mortal hearts affected all the same. Selena danced, the energies conjured up by her movements weaving into the lyrics and the melody, sliding themselves into the air and the light, dancing toward that small village, that existed for thousands of years under fae protection, unknown to almost all of those who lived there. 

That protection was paid for in blood more than it wasn’t. Blood and sex and lives spent performing the tasks the fae wished of them. 

This village belonged to the fae, and it was the fae’s right to take what they pleased from it. 

And now Selena gave to it, giving her dance and Yuzu’s song, whispering into the minds of the old folk, the ones who ruled the town in name, and passed some laws that didn’t interfere with the fae’s desires. 

_Ruri needs a provider. Someone who can take care of her. Her brother is gone now. He will never return. Midsummer comes. The time of sacrifice._

Little suggestions and nothing more. But for centuries, on the night of midsummer, a sacrifice was chosen in secret. Sometimes the choice was made weeks in advance, so that those who didn’t know about the sacrifice didn’t make any connections when the chosen person vanished. 

How convenient that Kurosaki Shun hadn’t told the villagers where he was _really_ going. It might have made casting this enchantment just a little more difficult if the villagers could possibly come up with the idea that he was their sacrifice for the year. 

He wasn’t. Yuuri would never share his prize with the court as a whole. 

But Selena wouldn’t mind letting the court know of Ruri, and that she’d been the one to choose and claim this year’s sacrifice. She’d done the same thing with Yuzu once before. 

Ruri would be hers. Either fleeing from the thought of being sacrificed or accepting it and coming to her willingly. And sooner or later, she would remember nothing at all of her brother. 

And they would both live in immortal splendor and joy forever. 

* * *

Shun’s mind shifted from absolute devotion to Yuuri, committed to pleasing him in every way that could be imagined, to the full knowledge that he knelt before the fae lord, Yuuri’s weight resting on his back and within Shun, while one of the plant’s vines caressed against him. The double dose of pleasure sent him over the edge in a matter of moments and he could just barely stop himself from collapsing in exhaustion. 

Yuuri stroked his back slowly. “You need more stamina,” he teased. “Only a few hours and already you’re wearing out on me.” 

Shun wanted to say something sharp and cutting. Two reasons prevented him: he still had little breath to speak with, and another one of the vines remained in his mouth, moving back and forth slowly. 

“I suppose you didn’t eat breakfast. I’ll have to give you something, then.” He tilted Shun’s head so their eyes met. “You don’t have to worry. Eating fae food won’t cause you any harm: you’re already mine.” 

Yuuri liked to remind him of that. Shun still couldn’t speak. Then Yuuri touched the vine in his mouth, and a few moments later, a golden honey taste poured over Shun’s lips and tongue. 

“Drink it all,” Yuuri instructed. “It’s good for you. It won’t replace actual food for more than a few hours, but it will provide you with the energy and the enthusiasm necessary to finish our bonding here.” 

Shun had next to no experience in intimate matters – save for what he’d had with Yuuri here – but he knew what this resembled, and he suspected Yuuri did it on purpose. 

Even if he had, he had no way to fight it. He drank down the honey, the vine providing more and more until he shook his head, hunger and thirst dealt with for now. 

Yuuri stroked him again, long fingers easily finding the best way to arouse him. Shun moaned with each movement, molding himself against Yuuri, his arousal increasing until he couldn’t think clearly at all. 

“You’ll drink three measures of that a day,” he heard Yuuri saying, as calm as if he wasn’t getting Shun hot and bothered with little more than his fingers. “It will increase your stamina and your libido until it meets my standards.” 

Shun almost wanted to go back to that state of mind where he only wanted to please Yuuri. It made everything so much easier. He didn’t have to worry about anything. Ruri was safe. Yuuri made him feel so very good. It wasn’t how he’d imagined his life, but it wasn’t bad, not at all. 

In fact, as he rose to the height of pleasure once again, he thought it was worth everything. 

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** There is some twisted lore going on in the background.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Word Count:** 1,309|| **Story Word Count:** 14,787|| **Chapter Count:** 10/25  
 **Notes:** Implied nudity. Implied sex. Implied Zarc.

* * *

Shun wanted to close his eyes and get some genuine sleep. He needed sleep to try to sort his mind out on what happened. A week of preparation time didn’t mean he was actually prepared for all of this. He didn’t think anyone could be prepared for what Yuuri did to him. 

But the flower’s nectar kept him not only awake, but aroused and eager for Yuuri’s attentions, even when his brain told him that he shouldn’t _want_ to be anywhere around him. Having made his bargain didn’t make him want this. 

He also couldn’t shake the way that Yuuri’s hands and lips and so much more worked to shatter what he thought every single time and bring him to a point where he _did_ want it, over and over again. 

Time didn’t seem to work in this odd clearing as it did in the village. He wasn’t certain anymore of how long he’d lain here, experiencing pleasures that he’d only vaguely dreamed possible. Yuuri-sama had said a day and a night until they returned to his castle. Had it even been half a day yet? 

He tried to bring up the question but Yuuri had more interesting things for Shun to do with his lips than talk with them, and Shun learned all over again that Yuuri’s word remained his law. 

Yuuri clearly didn’t want to _discuss_ anything, let alone answer questions that didn’t pertain to how much Shun wanted what was going on. Yuuri wanted one and only one thing and he got it, over and over again. 

* * *

It could’ve been the one day and one night that Yuuri promised. It could’ve been more. It could’ve been less. All Shun knew was that at some point, Yuuri whispered to him, “It’s time.” 

And Shun knew what he meant. Knew that their time here in this embracing lily – Yuuri mentioned the name at some point but Shun couldn’t have said when – ended. 

Yuuri helped him to his feet, very necessary since Shun couldn’t get his legs to work properly after the extremely thorough workout Yuuri had given him since his arrival here, and traced a line around Shun’s neck. In the wake of his finger, a collar woven of deep violet leather appeared, with a long leash extending from it that Yuuri held the other end of. 

Shun blinked, staring at it, before he raised his head to stare at Yuuri. 

“Is that necessary?” He already wore the marks of Yuuri’s passion on him, and he knew that sooner or later he would get some form of uniform like what Yuuri had shown him and Ruri a few days earlier. 

“Necessary?” Yuuri rested a finger on his lips before he pulled Shun down for a deep kiss. “No. But beautiful on you? Yes. Now, come along. It's time to go home.” A lazy grin hovered on his lips. “We have a great deal more bonding to do once we get there.” 

“After all of this?” 

“Of course. This only gained you entry into my lands. What we do from here on is because I want to. I haven't had a slave like you in some time.” Yuuri kissed him again, and Shun almost expected to feel his mind drifting away as it so often did. 

Instead, he found himself starting to return the kiss, knowing in his heart that Yuuri wanted him to, and he couldn’t shirk his duties. 

Yuuri pressed him against the nearest tree, kissing hungrily again and again, but then pulled himself back with a small sigh. 

“It’s more comfortable in my bed.” 

Guiding Shun by the leash, he started through the woods, a path opening up in front of him. Shun didn’t look behind, steeling himself to forever leave the world of mortals behind. 

* * *

As delicious as his new slave was, Yuuri definitely had to restrain himself from ravishing him in the clearing yet again. But home called to him and he knew he’d have to present Shun to the Court sooner or later anyway. He tended to pay attention to the rules only when it suited his purposes, and the rules said that all enslaved mortals had to be presented at some point. 

He’d taken his time on that before. It counted if he presented them nearly a century after he’d taken them, in his opinion. 

But he wanted this one done fast, so that his brothers would be aware that he had a new plaything. Those three were _so_ mortal friendly it was almost pathetic. Not once had they ever taken a mortal slave, let alone a lover. And now he had both in one delicious package, and he wanted them to see his new plaything for themselves. 

He knew _someone_ who would approve, though. He’d never taken one for himself either, but that was more because Zarc saw all of mortality as lesser than he was, not worthy of his attentions. He would support Yuuri and Yuuri’s choices, as he always had. 

And when the King of the Fae supported you, then what else did you really need? 

* * *

Shun followed Yuuri into the fae lands, which at first looked much like human lands, save for being just a little more _perfect_ than they should've, much like fae and mortals themselves. 

Then the path turned from barely trodden green grass to pale green crystal, and the trees ahead thinned out to reveal a glorious castle of white marble and shimmering diamonds and that was just what Shun could identify. Other parts of the castle appeared built of other materials, covering every range of color from white to black, and gemstones that he’d never even heard of before, let alone seen. 

But Yuuri guided him around that, to a vast garden ten times the size of the village he’d come from. Set in the center, hidden through a winding set of trails that Shun didn’t think he’d ever learn his way through, stood a glittering cottage of violet stone. 

‘Cottage’ was what came to mind, but stepping inside showed something else altogether: large, comfortable rooms on the ground floor, comprised of stone and plants woven together in ways Shun could not comprehend, and a circle staircase that rose up in the middle of the room leading to somewhere out of sight. 

“This is where you live?” Shun asked, not quite able to stare at everything at once, and certainly not for lack of trying. 

“This is where _we_ live,” Yuuri corrected. “You can go into any room where the door opens for you. If it doesn’t, you’re not allowed in. My servants will recognize you as my new slave and will treat you accordingly.” 

Shun couldn’t say he liked the sound of that, but he listened anyway. 

“You’ll recognize one of them but he’s not here very often. He's my messenger to mortal lands.” 

Yuuri’s smile said it all for him. Shun named the name, though. 

“Dennis.” 

“Very good. I’m quite glad to see I haven’t pleasured your brains out… yet.” Yuuri smiled and tugged Shun to the staircase. “I’ll show you around later. I’m feeling quite in the mood for another few rounds, aren’t you?” 

Shun wished he could say that he wasn’t, but the nectar still burned through his veins and it made his arousal evident. As did the fact Yuuri still hadn’t seen fit to give him any clothes. 

When they reached the top of the stairs, Yuuri pointed him towards a room. “I want you to wash up first. Get yourself clean, and then come to my bed. There.” He indicated another door just two down from the bathing room. “Don’t try to take the collar off. It will only disappear when I choose to make it so.” 

He pulled Shun down for another kiss. “And don’t take too long. I have a great many plans for us tonight.” 

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** What else could Zarc be but the king of all the fae? And of course, you know who Yuuri’s brothers would be.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Word Count:** 1,355|| **Story Word Count:** 16,142|| **Chapter Count:** 11/25  
 **Notes:** More sex. And our first sexplant!

* * *

Shun stared around the bathroom. He wasn’t unused to the concept of a room just for bathing, though there weren’t too many homes in the village that had one of those, and none of them looked like this. The ones he’d heard of – he’d never seen one, he and Ruri and most people that he knew usually just kept a large tub they filled with water heated over the fire – didn’t look anything at all like this. 

If he hadn’t known better – and he wondered how much he did know better – he would’ve thought that he stood in a garden grove with a single circular pool in the center. Artfully crafted stonework shelves held towels, soaps, and other items, while there was a woven hamper that he presumed would’ve been for any clothes in need of washing if he’d actually had any on at the moment. 

Moving carefully to avoid straining body parts Yuuri had put through quite a workout, he headed to the pool and slid down inside, letting out a quiet sigh of relief as some of the strain eased up almost at once. The water steamed ever so faintly, hot to a degree he’d never thought could be so pleasurable, and he relaxed more and more with each moment. 

What he knew of Yuuri so far didn’t exactly lend himself to liking the fae. He’d kept in his word about Ruri, true enough, but used it to get Shun into this position. Shun’s pride, battered thing that it was, still thrummed and ached inside of him, telling him that being used like this was wrong in so many ways. 

_Wrong or not, it’s for Ruri._ His pride would just have to quiet itself down. He would be with Yuuri for a very long time. Perhaps he would find a way to do something _other_ than sate Yuuri’s lust. 

Though what it might be, at that moment he didn’t know. What could he do that might stand a chance of impressing someone like Yuuri? 

Sitting in the tub just relaxing wouldn’t do it, he told himself, and got to work washing. He’d never encountered some of these soaps before, having usually just bought something from the soap-maker in the village, which was usually rough and definitely not scented in various aromas of flowers. 

Something brushed against the side of his neck and he looked up, half expecting to see Yuuri there. Instead, a tall flower grew behind him, one he had only vaguely noticed when he’d arrived. What touched him was a vine from it, one that brushed against him again when he looked at it. 

Had that vine actually moved? He didn’t think that he’d bumped into it. He kept on washing, but now watched the flower. Normally the idea of a flower moving on its own wouldn’t have even occurred to him. But one day and one night spent with Yuuri gave him all kinds of new insights into how the world of the fae worked. 

The vine moved again. This time it moved its tip past the collar he now wore, trailing down his chest. Shun tried to brush it away, only to find that another vine slid itself around his wrist and tugged his arm back that way. A third vine did the same thing with his other wrist, pulling them apart so that he couldn’t get them off of him. 

“What the hell?” He tried to scramble to his feet, sending water splashing, but the vines wouldn’t let him go. The first vine kept on going down his chest, then up it again, back down, brushing past his hips and then slowly bringing itself across his thighs. Given how sensitive every bit of his skin was after Yuuri’s seemingly endless attentions, Shun found himself gasping with each touch, his legs trembling almost to the point he couldn’t move. 

The vines tugged him a little more, pushing his legs here and his arms there, until he’d been completely spread out face-down. He turned his head to avoid breathing in water, heart pounding, confused, wondering if he should call for Yuuri and let him know that his plants were trying to … trying to do something? 

He had a pretty good idea of what they were trying to do and he didn’t want them to do it. Yuuri was enough. If he couldn’t even take a bath without getting touched… 

“Oh, I seem to be a little late,” Yuuri said, appearing by the side of the pool. He wore nothing at all himself, but appeared to have already bathed, his hair damp. “I meant to tell you to watch out for my little friend here.” He brushed his hand past the plant carefully. “Though I don’t think ‘little’ is the right word, do you?” 

One of the vines – the one that started the whole thing – now hung in front of Shun. He could see what the end of the vine looked like now and his breath caught in his throat. 

‘Little’ really wasn’t the word at all. 

“I don’t want this,” he managed to gasp. Yuuri smiled and patted him on the head. 

“That’s quite all right. But I think I do want to see you enjoying a few rounds here. You look rather beautiful like this and I would’ve introduced you two eventually anyway. Can you imagine what it will be like? To be stimulated all over at the same time? To be taken in three different ways at the same time?” 

Yuuri leaned in closer and whispered in Shun’s ear. “To have me take you one way and my precious treasure take you another, at the same time? Can you imagine how magnificent it will feel?” 

He leaned back and tapped his finger to his lips. “If you can’t, don’t worry about it. You won’t have to. You’re going to experience it.” 

Shun couldn’t seem to make a single word after that. Partly out of anger choking the words in his throat, partly because one of the vines curling around his length and began to move slowly, erotically against him. 

“I think my treasure here will have you first. I’ll join in when you’re more relaxed. And it’s quite fun to watch my treasure play as well.” Yuuri smiled a toothy smile. “I let my treasure play with one of my brothers once: the most energetic one of them, Yuugo. When it was over, he couldn’t walk, let alone close his legs, for nearly a week. I wonder if you’ll be the same way.” Yuuri traced one finger down the side of Shun’s face before he set a kiss upon his lips. “Let’s find out.” 

Shun barely had time to draw a proper breath before the vine closest to his mouth slithered between his lips. It wasn’t the only one; one already worked his growing arousal, and the third began to move around on the other side. 

Yuuri settled back onto a plant that hadn’t been there a moment before, a cup of something in his hand, and watched, eyes glinting in avid fascination. 

Shun didn’t think he’d even have a definition of ‘shame’ for much longer. How could he, when Yuuri simply did what he wanted, and he had to put up with it? How could he, when the very plants around him could use him to entertain Yuuri? 

“Do be co operative,” Yuuri teased. “My treasure won’t have as much fun if you just lay there like a lump. Treat my beauty like you would me.” 

Shun didn’t need to be told anymore than that. The day and a night in the flower taught him what Yuuri wanted. He had no idea of how this plant could even exist, let alone do what it was doing or even want what Yuuri indicated that it wanted. For all he knew, this was some sort of fae as well. 

At least one thing didn’t change: as the pleasure mounted, he didn’t have to think about what was going on. And that made it all the easier to let his mind slip away and devote himself to pleasing Yuuri. 

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** Our first sexplant has appeared! Also, while I will probably refer back to Selena and Ruri and others on occasion, most of the story will be Shun and Yuuri and Yuuri having fun with his Shun.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Word Count:** 1,321|| **Story Word Count:** 17,463|| **Chapter Count:** 12/25  
 **Notes:** Yuuri, Shun, and sexplants. Need I say more? Also, a little spanking and Yuuri just being evil.

* * *

Shun breathed in through his nose, shuddering as yet another wash of pleasure swept through him. He didn’t think he would’ve been able to stand up on his feet if the vines and Yuuri allowed it in the first place. He’d once again lost track of everything except how good the movements within and without him felt. There wasn’t a bit of his skin that wasn’t highly sensitive, thanks to whatever it was these vines produced, and to Yuuri’s talented fingers. 

And wherever those fingers touched, he found himself arching into them, wordless noises making their way out of his throat past the intruding vine. 

That didn’t taste like a vegetable, he’d noticed vaguely. There was another taste there, one very similar to how Yuuri tasted, and it produced the same sort of honey-like syrup that the lily outside did. He gulped it down without being told, remembering Yuuri’s orders to have some of it every day. He couldn’t remember if he’d had it before or not, but given how little he’d eaten, he would take whatever he could get. 

Now Yuuri’s hand brushed through his hair almost tenderly. “You’re exhausted. You want to sleep and you want to eat.” 

Shun wished he had the strength to say something about that. But he could just manage a small nod. The vines still remained moving gently within him, and now Yuuri stroked him, eyes bright with pleasure at Shun’s wearied submission to him. 

“You should ask me for what you want. _Beg_ me for it, my pretty one. You know the right words.” 

Yuuri turned his gaze to the main source of the vines. “One more time, then withdraw from him. It’s my turn with him again.” 

Shun didn’t have to ask what he meant. Not with how the vines picked up a little more speed and he writhed shamelessly in front of Yuuri, hips bucking with rising pleasure one more time, when he thought he’d be too drained to so much as move. 

Another spasm of pleasure wrung from him, and Shun found himself soaked in sweat, exhausted, and deposited to kneel at Yuuri’s feet, positioned for Yuuri’s intimate pleasure yet again. He couldn’t have counted how many times he’d experienced this or what time it was now. He only wanted _rest_. 

And rest wasn’t what he got, not as Yuuri moved closer and enjoyed himself one more time. 

“Imagine what it would be like,” he purred into Shun’s ear, “if I chose to punish you now. To inflict pain instead of pleasure. Your body thrills to my touch so much already. Imagine if I did this.” 

And his hand cracked down hard on Shun’s rear, sending a jolt of pain all through him, yanking a cry of confusion from his lips. Then he did it again, and again, moving his hand from place to place. 

Shun grappled helplessly at the floor, unable to move except as Yuuri directed. All the vines had left him now, so he managed to wring out one word from his lips. 

“Why?” He hadn’t _done anything_! He’d done everything that Yuuri wanted him to. So why was he being punished? 

Yuuri’s hands changed from firm punishment to gentle pleasure in the space of a moment. 

“Because I can. Because you are mine and I can do whatever I want to you. I want you to understand this, Kurosaki Shun. _Anything_ that happens to you is because I want it to, no matter what. You don’t have to earn anything. You can beg for whatever you please, but I alone choose if you get it or not. Now, I believe you wanted to beg me for something else.” 

Shun shuddered; he could not forget the reason he was here – he would never forget a thing to do with Ruri – but one humiliation piled up after another and the answer to why was always the same: because that was what Yuuri wanted. None of that made any of it hurt any less, or be any less humiliating and soul-shattering. 

Yuuri knew that. Shun _knew_ that he knew it and he reveled in it. He drew in another shuddering breath as Yuuri’s hand came down once again, a little firmer this time. 

“Don’t waste my time, my pet. I’m tired too. I might forget to feed you if you don’t remind me.” 

Shun’s fingers clenched again. He managed to draw out words, no matter how much he wanted to just collapse and sleep. He doubted he’d even be _allowed_ to sleep until Yuuri permitted it anyway. 

“Please, Yuuri-sama, master, I would like to eat.” He hated every single humiliating and humble word coming out of his mouth. 

Yuuri tapped his fingers on Shun’s shoulders before sliding his hand down his back. “That’s not very good begging.” Shun started to draw a breath, one with a bit more anger in it, but Yuuri thwacked his buttocks again, demanding silence. “But I suppose it will have to do. You’ll learn better in time.” 

He rose up to his feet and Shun started to do the same, until Yuuri gave him a stern, reprimanding look. 

“I didn’t say you could get up. I might’ve allowed it, but I’ve been very lenient to you so far. Stay on your hands and knees. Crawl after me. Stay like that until I tell you otherwise. Do you understand?” 

Shun didn’t expect the flood of disappointment that surged through him at Yuuri’s words and he drooped his head down, ashamed of himself and not sure of why. 

“Yes, master,” he murmured. He wanted to please Yuuri-sama so very much and he’d somehow failed to do so. He wouldn’t do it again. He would do whatever he had to in order to obey his master. That was why he existed. 

Yuuri-sama tugged on his leash and Shun crawled after his master, his hands and knees welcoming the soft cushioned carpet that he found himself walking on once they left the bathroom. It took all of his strength and focus to follow Yuuri-sama into a room a few doors down, which turned out to be Yuuri-sama’s own bedroom. 

Yuuri-sama guided him over to a balcony, which proved to overlook the whole garden that surrounded them, and which also provided an elegantly crafted table and chair. At the foot of the chair rested a plush cushion the same shade as Shun’s hair. Yuuri-sama indicated that. 

“Kneel there, pet.” As Shun got himself sorted there, Yuuri settled into the chair and examined the food on the table. The aromas caught at Shun’s nose and stirred up his appetite, almost killed by his weariness and heartsickness at ...at… 

He couldn’t remember what else it was. Something to do with Yuuri-sama, perhaps? He didn’t think that made sense, since Yuuri-sama had done nothing but treat him fairly the whole time. He belonged to his master, heart and mind and body and soul, and whatever Yuuri-sama chose to do with him, Shun submitted to. 

He tilted his head enough to catch sight of Yuuri-sama smiling at him and quivered as his master’s hand caressed the side of his face. 

“You are such the perfect plaything,” Yuuri-sama murmured. “I’ve been waiting for someone like you for _so_ long.” 

Shun leaned his head into Yuuri-sama’s touch, every part of him crying out for close contact with his master. He closed his eyes to enjoy it better, but only for a moment or two, before Yuuri-sama tapped him on the shoulder, and he opened his eyes to see a few bites of food being held out to him. 

Somewhere in the deepest pits of his soul, where not even Yuuri’s magic could touch, there was a faint hint of rage at being fed by hand like a pet. But Shun could not feel that, not now. Not when it was so much easier to eat from his master’s hand and be grateful for the food. 

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** Question. Anyone interested in a story where Shun works for Akaba Leo as a spy in Synchro with Yuuri holding his metaphorical (and maybe actual at times) leash, because if he does this he's allowed to see Ruri on regular occasions? Possibly a fantasy type of AU, possibly canon-based, depending on how my thoughts run.


	13. Chapter 13

**Word Count:** 18,805/32,500|| **Chapters:** 13/25  
 **Notes:** No sexplants. Or sex. But something naughty: if you look for it. Also, terribly sorry it took me so long, but as you may know, I had health issues starting at the end of August last year. I can't promise to keep going with this. I've got so much else I'm trying to update. I'll see what happens, though.

* * *

“Ruri!” 

Ruri turned at the sound of her name, a faint smile curving her lips when she realized who called her. “Selena!” 

The tiny part of her she’d thought would never thaw warmed a bit at the sight of the other woman. She told herself repeatedly that was merely because of friendship. She didn’t always believe herself. 

But now Selena came to her side, a solid wall of warmth unlike any other. 

“Let me help you,” Selena offered, holding her arms out. If Ruri hadn’t been nearly the whole length of the village away from home, she might have said no. As it was, she gratefully deposited one bag of groceries into Selena’s waiting arms. 

“Thank you,” she said, adjusting the two she remained with. “That would have taken me forever on my own.” 

The look Selena gave her not only warned her even more, but told her Selena didn’t believe a word of that. Ruri herself wasn’t all that certain she believed herself. But she hated letting anyone get so much as a whiff of how much she missed Shun. 

“You don’t have to worry about that now,” was all that Selena said as the two started walking. “If you need any help, just ask me.” 

Ruri bit her lip. She really didn’t want to. Just getting help from Crow bothered her. He had enough to do with taking care of the kids; she didn’t want to add any extra burdens onto him. But with each passing day, it seemed things grew just a little tougher for her. Shopkeepers bargained more stringently. Fewer people wanted her services, citing that she already had so much to do and surely she couldn’t do everything and her own chores. 

Ruri wanted to tell them that she was fine, that she could manage quite well on her own, if they would just listen to her and help her, the way everyone around here helped each other. 

Every time she tried to say anything in her own defense, however, the words dried up, and she went on about her work. They would see reason sooner or later. They had to. 

“Ruri?” Selena gave her a worried look. “Is everything all right?” 

Ruri shook her head, more to clear it than anything else, and offered a small smile. It didn’t feel like a very happy one, but she tried anyway. 

“Yes. I just miss my brother, that’s all.” 

She wasn’t lying. She missed Shun so very much and she knew she’d never see him again. If she did, somehow, then it wouldn’t be as the brother she knew, but as the servant – slave – of that fae lord. That wasn’t even close to the same thing. 

Selena nodded. It hadn’t been long since they’d met; perhaps just a few days. Ruri wasn’t sure on when Selena actually moved to town. From what hints she’d dropped, it had been before she herself got sick, which meant she was also _very_ unsurprised that she didn’t remember having seen her beforehand. 

“Do you think you can visit him? Or he could visit you?” 

So far as Ruri knew, Selena had heard the same story that the rest of the villagers had: that Shun paid for her recovery by going into a nobleman’s service far away. So now she smiled a little more ruefully. 

“I wish, but his master lives very far away. I couldn’t afford a trip there in a hundred years. Not even a one-way trip.” 

That spoke harsher to her soul than she wished it did. If the story were true, she would have saved every single bit of coin she could to get to her brother. But living in the fae lands wasn’t possible, not for mortals. 

Selena made a quiet, commisserating noise, and the two of them carried on the rest of the way in silence. Ruri tried harder to think about her companion and not about Shun. The pain of his loss hadn’t even begun to ease and all she could really do was just not think about it at all. 

It didn’t help all that much. She wished it would. 

But thinking about Selena was fresh and new and the warmth Selena sparked in her increased with every moment. 

_If Shun were here, he’d hover and glare and wonder if I had a crush._

It would be maddening. She would want to strangle him for interfering in whatever her romantic life – or friendship life – involved. She might even tell him to go hang out with Crow and the kids and give her time to herself, which he might or might not do. 

Now she could spend her time in Selena’s presence and worry for herself if that warmth was an impending crush or the freshness of a new friendship. She hadn’t had a new friend in a long time. She really needed to spend more time around Sayaka when the opportunity arose. 

_I wish he were here._

“Ruri?” 

She shook herself back into awareness at Selena’s voice and saw that they’d made it back home. She hadn’t even noticed; that was how deep in her own thoughts she’d been. She pulled up another smile as she fumbled the door open. 

“I’m sorry. My mind was just… taken by the fairies?” 

The old phrase sprang to her lips with only a bit of hesistance. Ever since Shun had _really_ been taken by them, she hadn’t ever wanted to say anything like that. 

Selena laughed, a whisper of silver and shadow in the sound. Ruri let herself revel in it. She’d never heard a sound so sweet before and wished she could hear it again forever. 

“Do you mind if I make us some tea?” Selena asked, setting the bag down near the stove. “I have some special tea leaves I brought with me, just in case.” 

“All right,” Ruri agreed, starting to unpack her purchases. She wasn’t as distracted as she’d been, but she’d had Selena’s tea before, and she trusted the other to make a cup or two without burning down the cottage. 

_I’m glad she offered. I could use a good drink after all of this._ She hadn’t visited the brewer today, but the idea of doing so hovered in the back of her mind. She wasn’t one of those who preferred beer over tea, but every now and then there was a good reason for some good drinks and tea didn’t always cut it. 

But when it was Selena’s tea...well, it didn’t do miracles, but the one taste she’d had of it convinced her that it _should_ have. 

By the time she had everything put away, Selena had brought the tea to the perfect level of boil and carried two steaming cups over. Ruri accepted hers with a smile of thanks and a careful sip. Good tea was to be appreciated, no matter what else was going on. 

“Would you like to come visit me soon?” Selena asked as they enjoyed the tea. “I’m sure you’d enjoy yourself.” 

Ruri closed her eyes to breathe in the sweet aroma of the tea. “Maybe in a few days.” Midsummer came to mind. She wasn’t as interested in the celebration as she’d been in previous years. Spending it with Selena would be _much_ better. If nothing else, she could get to know her friend better to know if spending more time would interest her. 

“I look forward to it.” Selena promised. “I think you’ll like my home.” 

It occurred to Ruri that she wasn’t even certain of where Selena lived. Considering it, she suspected the other to be connected to one of the wealthy families in town, and she hadn’t seldom visited their homes. She would have to ask Selena about that before visiting, of course. 

She glanced up in time to see an odd expression she might have classified as ‘possessive’ or perhaps ‘satisfied’ flicker across Selena’s face, but it vanished before she could properly identify it, and she told herself it didn’t matter. She sipped at her tea again and relaxed in Selena’s company. 

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** This chapter was written for the last day of WIP Week, prompt of "your favorite WIP".


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